Mickelson’s Quest for U.S. Open Win Gets Stuck in Cypress Trees

June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Phil Mickelson’s career-long quest
to win golf’s U.S. Open morphed into a challenge of just trying
to make it to the third round.

Following a 6-over 76 yesterday at San Francisco’s Olympic
Club, Mickelson sits in a tie for 94th place, 10 shots behind
leader Michael Thompson and seven shots behind playing partner
Tiger Woods. The cut line for weekend play is the top 60 players
plus ties.

If left-hander Mickelson is able to find his tee shot on
his first hole today, it will be an improvement over yesterday,
when he lost his ball in a cypress tree.

“I’ve got a tough challenge just to get to the weekend,”
Mickelson, a five-time U.S. Open runner-up, told reporters.
“I’ll go out and see if I can shoot something under par.”

Following a high-scoring round with a below-par score the
next day is difficult at the Olympic Club, Woods said.

“It’s just really hard to make birdies,” Woods said in a
news conference yesterday. “If you’re off your game just a
little bit, you’re going to pay the price. This is not like it
was last year. This is a tough one.”

Woods, Mickelson and Masters Tournament winner Bubba Watson,
who were grouped together by the U.S. Golf Association in an
effort to heighten fan interest, begin their second round today
at 1:29 p.m. local time.

In last year’s U.S. Open at a rain-softened Congressional
Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, Rory McIlroy tied or broke
12 U.S. Open records, including the winning score of 16-under
par. This year, only six players finished the opening day under
par, with McIlroy scoring 7-over-par 77.

Birdie Drought

Woods, seeking a fifth U.S. Open title to put an end to a
four-year drought of major victories, is coming off a win two
weeks ago at the Memorial Tournament, the 73rd title of his
career.

“He’s playing really well,” Mickelson said of his
longtime rival. “It was impressive.”

Mickelson wasn’t the worst left-hander in his group. Watson
shot 8-over 78, putting him in danger of missing his second
straight 36-hole cut following his early exit from the Memorial.

“That golf course is too tough for me,” Watson said.
“It’s beating me by eight right now. But we’ve got another day
to try to fix it.”

Mickelson, a four-time major winner, didn’t last beyond the
first day of the Memorial, withdrawing from the event after an
opening round in which he texted U.S. PGA Tour Commissioner Tim
Finchem during play to complain about excessive mobile-phone use
by spectators. At the time, Mickelson cited exhaustion for his
withdrawal.

Lost Ball

The 41-year-old Mickelson lost his opening tee shot
yesterday in the branches of cypress trees on the right side of
the ninth hole. After being assessed a penalty stroke for a lost
ball, Mickelson was forced to return to the start to hit a
second tee shot.

“I made a pretty good bogey there,” he said.

As his day continued, Mickelson said he began to feel more
comfortable with his swing. After making five straight pars in
the middle of his round on holes 17 thru 3, Mickelson attempted
to be aggressive on the par-4 fourth hole and ended up three-putting for a bogey.

“For a while there I was able to hang tough,” Mickelson
said. “When I tried to force it, I ended up making a bogey. It
was a tough day when you play the way I did.”